Side and center bearing for vehicles.



H. B. NICHOLS.

SIDE AND CENTER BEARING FOR VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 23. 1911 Patented Nov. 3, 1914.

4 SHEBTSSHEET 1.

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ah wu L H. B. NICHOLS.

SIDE AND CENTER BEARING FOE VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 23, 1911.

Patented Nov. 3, 1914.

4 SHEETS SIIEET 2.

H. B. NICHOLS.

SIDE AND CENTER BEARING FOR VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT.23,1911.

Patented Nov. 3, 1914.

4 SIIEBTS-SIIEET 3.

q/vtvuzooao H. B. NICHOLS.

SIDE AND CENTER BEARING FOR VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 23. 1911.

1,116,103; Patented Nov. 3, 1914.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY IB. NICHOLS, 0F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

SIDE AND CENTER BEARING FOR VEHICLES.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, HnNm B. NICHOLS, acitizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county ofPhiladelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a certain new anduseful Improvement in Side and Center Bearings for Vehicles, of whichthe following is a specification, reference being had therein to theaccompanying drawing.

My invention relates to railway cars and especially to the means forconnecting the trucks to the bodies of such cars.

It has for its object the provision of such means which will permitlateral motion and angular displacement in all directions of the cartrucks without twisting or racking the car bodies or binding the trucks.Heretofore, with the ordinary construction, there have been centerbearings and side bearings provided for car trucks, but their rotarymotion, permitting angular displacement, has been confined to ahorizontal plane so far as I know. Hence, any angular dis placement in avertical plane of one truck without a corresponding displacement of theother, must result in the straining and twisting of the car body. Thisis very noticeable in the case of long and heavy cars with double truckssuch as are now employed, for example in subway service, where thecurves are frequently of short radius, and of necessity heavily bankedup, and high speeds are maintained in order to satisfy rapid transitschedules. In such case the forward truck of a long car might reach thesteepest portion of the curve before the rear truck had started tospring from the straight line. The strain on the car body is obvious,and in addition to the wear on the rolling stock, there is added strainon the rails, and some discomfort to the passengers.

I attain my object by providing center and side bearings for each truck,arranged in the surface of a sphere whose radius is determined withrespect to the rise and radius of the curves, so that angulardisplacement is possible in all directions, in planes which cut thespherical surface in great circles, on which roll antifriction de vicessuch as hardened steel balls. In use I find that cars equipped withthese center and side bearings may be run at any speed around curves ofany radius which will take their dimensions, without discomfort to theSpecification of Letters Patent.

Application filed September 23, 1911.

Patented Nov. 3, 1914. Serial No. 650,988.

damage to the cars My invention is illustrated as to one embodiment inthe accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is an end view diagram of acar, with its trucks angularly displaced in opposite directions. Fig. 1isa similar diagram taken at right angles to Fig. 1, showing thespherical surface in which the bearings are arranged so as to permituniversal rotary motion of the truck around a center lying above thesame in the body of the car. F ig. 2 is a diagram showing a curve with acar thereon in plan. Fig. 3 is a plan view of one form of my sphericalcenter and side passengers, smoothly, and without strain or bearings.Fig 4 is a plan view of the truck bearings with the body detachedtherefrom. Fig. 5 is a side view of the parts shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 6 isan enlarged detail view of the center bearing, along the section line:c-:v of Figs. 4 and 5. Figs 7, 8 and 9 are similar detail views of theside bearings, parts in Fig. 9 being shown in section.

Referring to the drawings and especially to Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 5, C is acar body pro vided with trucks C, C, fitted with the usual. wheels IV,and each truck turning under the body on a kingbolt 7. In Fig. 2 a trackcurve is shown at T, the car moving in either direction, and the truck Clocated on a heavy rise of the curve while the truck C has not yetsprung from the straight line and consequently is still level. The bodyof the car is indicated in dotted lines in this figure, which isintended merely as illustrative of the conditions which my invention isintended to meet. In Fig. 1 which is the end view, one truck (in fulllines) is shown displaced to the left, and the other truck (in dottedlines) displaced to the right. While this particular condition wouldrarely exist, and while the degree of separation of the wheels W and IVfrom normal position is exaggerated, this figure.

well illustrates the general arrangement and functioning of the parts. 2is one member of the body bolster, which is bolted to the body portionof the center bearing 6, which turns and also oscillates in anydirection on the truck center bearing 5, this motion being permittedwhile the body is supported by the side bearings 23 and 23', the bearingsurfaces of which, together with the surfaces of the bearings 5-6, liein the same spheri- 119 V cal figure; indigated in Fig. 5, the bearingsillustrated herein, which are designed for the larger type of citytraction car, have a radius of ten feet. It will be observed in all thefigures that the actual surface of the bearings is only a small fractionof the total surface of the sphere, because the amplitude of motion ofany of the parts is small. The rotatory motion obviously requires a verymuch greater travel of the parts than the oscillatory or radial motion,but 1 do not wish it to be understood that the specific determinationwhich I have made of these two components is general in its application,nor in any sense limiting as to scope. Any dimensions may be adoptedwhich are suitable for a particular case,-the broad principle being thatof universal motion of the car body combined with perfect support on thetrucks in all positions. llt may be noted in Fig. 1, that any angulardisplacement of the wheels, either W or W being on a spherical curve,results in the wheels being moved outward so as to ofl'er increasedresistance V lateral displacement.

,around the center of this sphere.

to thrust on the track curve.

Referring now particularly to lBigs. 3 to 5, 12 represents the carbolster, and 3l the truck bolster, each formed.v of two metal memberssecured together by bolts and braced against strain. The car bolster isproperly shaped at its ends to receive the sills or other frame members.of the car body, and is supported at, three points, in themiddle by thecenter bearing 6, which rests upon balls 19 in a raceway carried by thetruck center bearing 5, and at the two ends by the side bearings 23%?)and 23f-tl3, in each of which are balls in curved raceways, a1lthe,.raceways permitting universal motion of the balls, withinpredetermined limits. Means are provided,

and will presently be described, for preventing displacement of theballs during itregular motion of the car body or truck.

in Fig. 3 the bearings are allshown in plan, parts being dotted in underthe bolster member 1. The center of horizontal rotation is in the axisofthetruck center bearing 5. in all positions, and this when prolongedpasses through the center of the sphere whose lower surface is indicatedin Fig. 5. All motion'in vertical planes is Theoretically, the car bodywill follow a constant path bearing a definite relation at all times tothe direction of the track and without Practically, the body will belifted and given some angular displacement in passing curves, but owingto the freedom of movement of the trucks, this is accomplished withoutsudden strain or shock, and in all positions, the thrust on the bearingsis direct, and is distributed among the various balls.

The detail construction of the center bearinieuoe ing is as follows: Thetruck bearing 5 is secured to the bolster 3 l by throughbolts v 13, andis formed with a horizontal flange carrying the ball-ring 10,- and avertical hollow stud 8 with a rounded head.

The car bearing 6 is a drop member having a hollow body with curvedinterior face 9 surrounding the curved head of the center stud 8 with aslight clearance on the sides. The curvature of the'bearing faces 8 and9 is of some importance, as it is here that all lateral strains aretaken up, without interfering with the vertical rotation of the truck.The body 6 has a horizontal flange carrying the ring 15 in which isformed the upper raceway or bearing for the balls 19. Both rings 10 and15 are shown in section in Fig. 5 and their opposed faces are curved insection as shown, the curvature of the upper ring 15 being approximatelythe same as the curvature of the balls, while the curve of the lowerraceway 10 is widened out to permit lateral travel on the surface of thesphere. The upper ring 15 is held in place by a retaining ring 16, witha chamfered edge underlyingthe edge of the ball-race ring. Thisretalning ring is secured to the body flange by bolts 17. Since withrespect to the car body should be constant for all positions of thetruck, for obvious reasons, I provide a guard ring 20, se-

" cured to the body flange by bolts 22, this guard ring being slotted onboth sides beneath the ball-race 15 to receive the balls. The sides ofthe slots are beveled and their width is a little less than the diameterof the balls which are thus prevented from dropping out of position. Thering 10 constituting the lower ball-race is also held in position on thetruck bearing flange by a retaining ring 11, secured to the truckhearing flange by bolts 12. The upper bearing body 6 is secured to thecar bolster by throughbolts 18,- which with the side hearing bolts 44:preferably pass through horizontal members of the car body frame. Thebody 6 is centrally perforated to permit the passage of the kingbolt 7.The clearance around this bolt which is, necessary to permit lateralmotion is provided in the stud 8, and is greater in the direction of thecar length than transversely thereto, being sufficient however in alldirections to permit the full motion for which the other parts aredesigned.

Fig. 1 is a plan view ofthe truck bolster with the lower center and sidebearings exposed. Fig. 6 is a detail view of the center bearing alongthe section line mm of Figs. 4 and 5. Bycomparing these two views itwill be observed that the head 8 is somewhat elongated in thedirectionof the car length, with rounded bearing surfaces as alreadydescribed which however are normally in contact with the opposed bearingsurfaces the position of the balls 9 in the body 6, fore and aft. Thereason for this will be apparent upon a moments reflection. The truckswings from side to side and may also turn to a limited extent fore andaft, but there is not the same necesslty for clearance in the lattermotion that there is in the former, the curvature of the bearingsurfaces at 8 and 9 being such that they will travel without binding,while constantly permitting the communication of forward or backwardthrust or tractive power from the truck to the car body, without loss.Thus the kingbolts serve merely to prevent displacement or disconnectionof the parts, especially in case of accident, such for example as thefracture of the head 8.

The detail construction of the side-hearings is as follows: Thesebearings are rights and lefts, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5,but each pairis identical in every other respect. The side-bearing 23, shown on theright-hand side of Figs. 4 and 5, will be referred to particularly, andis illustrated on an enlarged scale, in Figs. 8 and 9. This bearing hasfor its essential parts a pedestal 23, se-

cured by bolts 24 to the end of the truckbolster; a strut 43, secured bybolts 44 to the car-bolster; bearing-plates 25 and 45 carried on thepedestal and the strut respectively, and balls 34 traveling betweenplates in the raceways.

The pedestal 23 (of the truck side-bearing) has an outside over-turnedflange and a parallel inside over-turned flange 31, both of thesefollowing the arcs of circles havingtheir center in the axis of thecenter bearing.

Sliding under these flanges, is a linear ball-guard 32, having a slotcut radially in it, to receive the three balls 34, as shown in sectionin Fig.3. As the balls roll from end to end of the race-plate 25, thisguard 32 is carried with them and slides back and forth under theflanges 30 31. So long as the upper plate 45 presses down on the ballssteadily, just so long will the balls remain in proper position withrespect to the two plates 25 and 45, if permitted to roll freely.Suppose, however, that in the middle of the travel, the car-body islifted slightly by a lurch or the like, so that pressure of the plate ismomentarily removed from the balls 34 while the rotary motion of thetruck continues. The result would be that with extreme relativedisplacement of the body and truck, the balls would have traveled onlypart way. Secondly, as the truck straightened up, with constant pressureon the balls they would be carried back to the reverse end of the ballrace 25, and then, further travel being impossible, the continued motionof the late 45 might either grind them flat or cracc them, and in anyevent they would be left out of position to afford proper support to thecar-body. It is the function of the linear ball-guard 32 to prevent suchan occurrence. It should be further noted that if the balls Were free,they might be similarly driven inward or outward along a radial line intheir race-ways 25, and then, if the car-body were lifted suddenly,might be left in displaced position when the carbody and truclgresumedtheir normal positions. To revent this occurence is the function of w atI call the radial ball guard 33, essentially a strip sliding radiallyunder the bridges and 36 011 the guard-plate 32. This plate 33 has threeopenings, each large enough to receive one of the balls 34, so thatthese balls are kept in proper position with re ard to each other at alltimes. They can roll -concurrently, carrying the plate 33 with them in aradial direction, and they can roll along their race-ways, carrying theplate 32 with them (as well as the plate 33 thereon) in a similardirection.

Rising from each of the bridges 35 and 36 is a small lifting-bracket.The outer one of these brackets has a vertical member 41, and anoverlying horizontal member 39, while the inner bracket has a verticalmember 42 and a horizontal member 40. By reference to Fig. 5, it will beseen that the arms 39 and 40 project over the curved flanges 46 and 47,forming the inner and outer lower edges of the strut or bodybearing 43.contact, there being a sufficient clearance between each flange 46 or 47and each arm 39 or 40, to permit free travel of the bodybearing 43 andits plate 45. If the car-body lifts, however, so as to remove the plate45 from contact with the balls 34, the arms 39 and 40 will be engaged bythe flanges 46 and 47, and carried along with the bearing 43 on thebody. In order to make certain the engagement of the parts 3946 and4047, I prefer to notch the upper surface of each flan e 4647 in acontinuous series of serrations, as shown in Fig.7. In such case themembers 39 and. 40 are provided with knife edges to engage theserrations. By this means, displacement of the balls with respect to thebody is rendered impossible, because if the carbody jumps, it merelylifts the ball-cages or guards and carries them along with it. lVhen itreturns it will roll them back to their normal position, and if itshould happen to j nmp back it will carry them with it again.

There are a number of mechanical details Normally these parts are not inwhich I will mention, but which of course may be varied at will. Amongthese are the end gibs 26 and 27, which hold the lower race-way inposition, and similar gibs 48 for the upper plate 45. The lower gibs areheld in place by bolts 28 and 29. Similar bolts secure the upper gibs inplace. The

bridges and 36 are secured by screws or.

rivets 37 and 38, best shown in Fig. 9 in rolling parts, which are allin the surface of a great sphere shownin the drawings as having aradiusvof ten feet, and angular displacement in any vertical planepassing through the axis of the center-bearing is possible to eachtruck, while the-side bean ings provide sufllcient lateral support inall positions, and transmit the thrustfrom'. the

body to the truck, and so to the wheels. The center bear-ing balls 19travel in a circle, as shown in dotted lines in Fig, 3; and the sidebearing balls 34: travel in arcs of circles.

The race-ways for all of the balls are broadened along radial lines soas to provide for radial motion of all the balls, and in the sidebearings double cages or guards are pro vided normally traveling withthe balls, but adapted to be engaged by the body parts and forced totravel with the body in any abnormal action which might otherwise resultin relative displacement. v

I am aware that many changes and modifications may be made in theapparatus thus described, without departing from the invention, and Iwish it distinctly understood that .l contemplate all such non-essentialchanges as fall fairly within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what T claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent of the United States is: p

1. The combination of a vehicle body and a plurality of wheeled trucksthereforspaced apart longitudinally of the body, each truck comprisingcenter and side bearings to permit universal movement, the severalbearings of each truck" being mounted on the surface of a sphere havingits center vertically above the bearings.

2. The combination of a vehicle body and a plurality of wheeled truckstherefor spaced apart longitudinally of the body, each truck comprisingcenter and side ball bearings to permit universal movement, the

several bearings of each truck being mounted on the surface of a spherehaving its center in a vertical plane transversely of the body, andmeans for permitting a limited side play to the balls contained in saidbearings.

in the surface of a sphere having its cenmr miaice 3. The combination ofa vehicle body and a plurality of wheeled trucks therefor, of center andside ball bearings therebetween, the bearing surfaces of each truckbeing mounted on the surface of a sphere the center of which lies abovethe truck in a vertical transverse plane, the center bearing beingconnected by a Eng-pin and having a ball and socket joint to afi'ordfreev dom in allplanes, and means in the side bearings to permit lateralmovement of the balls in their casings in difi'erentplanes.

4:. The combination of a vehicle body and truck therefor, a centralking-pin connected between the two, a ball and socket connection' forthe king-pin connection to absorb thrust to permit universal relativemotion and an anti-friction bearing for connection at thesides thereofand spaced apart there.

from, said lateral bearings being mounted in a vertical planetransversely of the body to permit easy rocking of the entire car bodyand lateral shifting to accommodate track curves.

5. The combination of a vehicle body and a plurality of wheeled truckstherefor, said trucks being spaced apart longitudinally of the vehicleand each having center and side bearings, each of the latter bearingscomprising an upper and a lower member carrying opposite ball raceplates, each raceway being curved on the arc of a circle coaxial withthe center bearing, and also curved in the surface of a sphere includingboth side and center bearings, and having its center in a prolongationof the axis of the center bearing.

6. The combination of an elongated vehicle body and two longitudinallyspaced wheeled trucks adapted to support said body in travel over arailroad, each of said trucks having a limited range of angular movementabout a central point as respects said body and supporting the same bycontact therewith through a plurality of bearing surfaces, each and allof" said bearing surfaces lying in the surface of a sphere the center ofwhich lies in each case in a vertically extending line passing throughthe central point of angular movement aforesaid.

7. The combination of a vehicle body and wheeled truck therefor having alimited range of angular movement with respect thereto in the horizontalplane, of three spaced transversely arranged bearings therebetween, oneof which is centrally 'located and the other two of which lie onebearing, the said three bearings all lying in the surface of a spherethe center of which lies in a vertically extending line passing throughthe aforesaid centering means.

8. The combination of a vehicle body and a Wheeled truck therefor, atransverse body bolster between the body and the truck, a pivotalconnection between the truck and the center of the bolster, limiting therelative longitudinal movement of body and truck, but permitting freeangular movement through a determinate range, a central thrust bearingadjacent said pivotal connection, the bearing surfaces of which lie inthe surface of a sphere having its through said bearing, and a sidebearing on each side of and spaced apart from said central thrustbearing and between the said truck and bolster, the surfaces of saidside bearings lying in the surface of the above defined sphere togetherwith the surfaces of the central thrust bearing aforesaid. In testimonywhereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY B. NICHOLS. WVitnesses:

G130. B. TAYLOR, J. A. FERNON.

' center in a vertically extending line passing 15

